January 2004 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

rob kling issue of TIS
by Barry Wellman 05 Jan '04

05 Jan '04

Denise Rall wondered about hwen the festschrift for Rob Kling will appear. I don't know about a festshchrift, but I do know that The Information Society (Rob's journal) is doing a series of memorial articles, including one by Roxanne Hiltz and myself, another by John King, etc. We submitted months ago, and I believe the issue is due to appear April 2004. Barry _____________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 To network is to live; to live is to network _____________________________________________________________________

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new reviews in cyberculture studies (january 2004)
by david silver 05 Jan '04

05 Jan '04

New reviews (found at http://www.com.washington.edu/rccs/) include: Espen J. Aarseth, Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature (John Hopkins University Press, 1997). Reviewed by Vika Zafrin. David Kushner, Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created An Empire and Transformed Pop Culture (Random House, 2003). Reviewed by Bob Rehak. Steven Poole, Trigger Happy: Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution (Arcade Books, 2000). Reviewed by Edward Castronova and Aaron Delwiche. If you or your colleagues are interested in reviewing books for RCCS, contact us directly at <dsilver(a)u.washington.edu>. As always, please feel free to forward this message. david silver

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New papers on freesoftware.mit.edu | opensource.mit.edu
by Karim R. Lakhani 05 Jan '04

05 Jan '04

<apologies for X-posting> Hi All The following papers have been posted to our website. Thanks to all the authors for their submissions! See you all in the New Year! ~Karim~ PAPER 1 Author: Vadén Tere Title: Intellectual Property, Open Source and Free Software http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/vaden.pdf Abstract The notion of intellectual property is used in order to create digital commodities. While the commodification of code is useful for certain kinds of knowledge intesive work (the Taylorist forms), it severely disrupts other types of knowledge creation. Applying Scott Lash's division of knowledge creation into organisational and disorganisational types, we also gain insight into the different positions towards IP held by different wings of the FOSS community. PAPER 2 Authors: Garzarelli, Giampaolo & Roberto Galoppini Title: Capability Coordination in Modular Organization: Voluntary FS/OSS Production and the Case of Debian GNU/Linux http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/garzarelligaloppini.pdf Abstract: The paper analyzes voluntary Free Software/Open Source Software (FS/OSS) organization of work. The empirical setting considered is the Debian GNU/Linux operating system. The paper finds that the production process is hierarchical notwithstanding the modular (nearly decomposable) architecture of software and of voluntary FS/OSS organization. But voluntary FS/OSS project organization is not hierarchical for the same reasons suggested by the most familiar theories of economic organization: hierarchy is justified for coordination of continuous change, rather than for the direction of static production. Hierarchy is ultimately the overhead attached to the benefits engendered by modular organization. PAPER 3 Author: Modica, Salvatore Title: Knowledge Transfer in R&D Outsourcing (and Linux-Vs-Windows) http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/modica.pdf Abstract: Why did Microsoft not hire all those smart programmers who ended up developing Linux through the internet? Because, we answer, the value of the information about its operating system that Microsoft should have transferred to any of them to render her productive would have been too high compared to her expected individual contribution, so that after writing a contract with Microsoft the typical developer would have run away to sell the acquired knowledge on the market. On the other hand, knowledge transfer in R&D outsourcing is not always so critical, and for example in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries research contracts are extensively used, usually in the context of a long term relationship between firm and innovator. We analyze this kind of repeated interaction, and find that when the knowledge-transfer problem is not blocking, the firm should transfer to the innovator as much information as it is compatible with the latter's incentive constraints. PAPER 4 Author Dafermos, George Title: Blogging the Market http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/dafermos3.pdf Abstract: Weblogs have been recently characterised as the "open source media". And in much the same way that open source software is been deployed, marketed and sold within both commercial and non-commercial contexts, weblogs can advance both commercial and non-commercial objectives. However, in this primary - research paper, the focus is on the benefits that organisations can seize by embracing weblogs, and how weblogs are bound to revitalise marketplace and workplace conversations. In addition, several case studies are being analysed, ranging from Slashdot and Openflows to Amazon, Macromedia, Groove Networks, and Gizmodo. PAPER 5 Author: McCormick, Chip Title: The Big Project That Never Ends': Role and Task Negotiation Within an Emerging Occupational Community (Dissertation in progress) http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/mccormick.pdf Abstract: This dissertation involved in-depth interviews of over fifty open source developers in two major open source projects. The primary areas of interest were 1) conducting an ethnographic study of the work practices and culture of 'post-burecratic' organizations to see what lessons these groups may hold for managing intellectual labor and 2) examining whether the open source movement represents a new professional model for software engineering. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PAPER 6 Updated Paper Author: Chiao, Benjamin Hak-Fung Title: An Economic Theory of Free and Open Source Software: A Tour from Lighthouse to Chinese-Style Socialism (revised version) http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/chiao.pdf Abstract The theory is that free and open source software is private property under the guise of common property. Such software is distributed mostly under the GNU General Public License. The intents in The GNU Manifesto suggest striking similarities between this license and communism. The resulting economic properties, however, are similar to those of Chinese-style socialism: both resulted from an increased separation of legal and economic ownership. The phenomenal growth of China in the last twenty five years and of such software in the past few years could be attributed to such separation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PAPER 7 Abstract Submission Author: Muffatto, Moreno & Matteo Faldani Title: Open Source as a Complex Adaptive System - Published in Emergence 5 (3) http://www.emergence.org/ Abstract: The Open Source community and its activities can be considered to have the characteristics of a system. The Open Source system is distinctive because it is neither controlled by a central authority that defines strategy and organization nor totally chaotic. It can be placed at a middle position between a planned system and a chaotic one. In this sort of position there are non-formal rules which allow the system to produce significant results. The Complex Adaptive System theory can be used to better understand and analyze the Open Source system. This work presents a description of the main characteristics of the functioning of the Open Source community regarding its organizational structure and development process. The concept of complex adaptive system is then introduced and its functioning mechanisms briefly described. Finally, we will interpret the characteristics of the Open Source community in the context of complex adaptive systems theory. -- =============================================== Karim R. Lakhani MIT Sloan School of Management & The Boston Consulting Group, Strategy Practice Initiative e-mail: karim.lakhani(a)sloan.mit.edu | lakhani.karim(a)bcg.com voice: 617-851-1224 fax: 617-344-0403 http://spoudaiospaizen.net/ http://opensource.mit.edu | http://freesoftware.mit.edu http://userinnovation.mit.edu

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Setting up a panel on domestic internet use
by Sue Cranmer 05 Jan '04

05 Jan '04

Hi I'm interested in setting up panels for the next AoIR conference and for the Digital Generations Conference to be held at the Institute of Education, University of London 26 - 29 July 2004 at http://www.ccsonline.org.uk/mediacentre/Events/main.html If anyone is working in this area (my own study is of how families use the internet) and interested in putting a joint proposal together for these conferences, please write to me. The deadline for abstracts for Digital Generations is 31 December. Both panels require 3 to 4 papers. Best wishes Sue

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Oxford Summer Doctoral Programme
by Vicki Nash 05 Jan '04

05 Jan '04

Further to my previous message, please can I confirm that current and prospective doctoral students can now apply to attend the 2004 Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Programme. Full details and an online application form can be found at http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/teaching/?rq=sdp2004 The course will be held in Oxford from 14th to 31st July, and the application process is open until March 12th. Like last year, we hope to be able to offer scholarships for students otherwise unable to attend. Please circulate this information to any interested parties. Dr Victoria Nash Policy and Research Officer 01865 287231 Oxford Internet Institute University of Oxford 1, St Giles OX1 9DT www.oii.ox.ac.uk

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SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF YOUNG SCHOLARS
by Boris Kragelj 05 Jan '04

05 Jan '04

Hi, We are planning to have nice little conference covering various aspects of communication science in Ljubljana next Autumn. Contributions from the area of internet & new ICT and their impacts on society & culture are especially welcome! You are all very welcome, and please, can you distribute this invitation further to the young scholars that could be also interested to participate... Thank you, Best regards, Boris ------------------------------------------------------ SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF YOUNG SCHOLARS Communication in the Global World, 12-14 November 2004 (Ljubljana, Slovenia). CALL FOR PAPERS The Slovenian Communication Association (SCA) announces an international conference for young scholars on theoretical and empirical research of communication in the era of globalization. Young scholars - graduate students, doctoral candidates and recent PhDs - are invited to present their recent work in an environment that is hospitable to a diverse cultural experience. The first conference, held in May 2001, helped construct a bridge between young scholars from Central Europe and the two Americas. The conference allows for a broad range of issues and concerns to be addressed by the participants with no preferred theoretical or methodological perspective. Reports on work in progress, such as M.A. theses or Ph.D. dissertations, are also invited. About 30 papers will be selected for presentation, and prizes will be awarded by a panel of expert scholars for outstanding papers. The special panel includes Hanno Hardt (founding editor of Journal of Communication Inquiry, Faculty of Social Sciences, Univ. Ljubljana), Slavko Splichal (editor of Javnost/the Public, Faculty of Social Sciences, Univ. Ljubljana), and Breda Luthar (Chair of Dept. of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, Univ. Ljubljana) Abstracts - with brief biographies of authors and their contact addresses - should be sent by March 1, 2004 (andrej.pinter(a)guest.arnes.si, vesna.dolnicar(a)uni-lj.si) Invited presenters will be notified by April 5, 2004, and final papers must be received by October 25, 2004. Also consult the conference web-page for more information: http://rcul.uni-lj.si/~fd_kom/CGWconference/call_cgw2004.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ Boris Kragelj _________________________________ University of Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences Kardeljeva ploscad 5 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia Phone: +386 1 5805 138 Fax: +386 1 5805 102 ----------------------------- RIS - Research on Internet in Slovenia (http://www.sisplet.org/engris/) SIBIS+ Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information society (www.sibis-eu.org)

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Sunbelt Social Network Conference
by Gregor Petric 04 Jan '04

04 Jan '04

Dear Colleagues, You might be interested to participate at the XXIV International Sunbelt Social Network Conference, sponsored by the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA). It will be held in beautiful Portoroz, Slovenia on 12 - 16 May , 2004. The conference provides an interdisciplinary forum for social scientists, mathematicians, computer scientists and all others interested in social networks. It also presents a great opportunity for internet researchers, using social network analysis to share ideas and explore common interests. Paper Submission To submit a paper for the conference, send an abstract of no more than 300 words by e-mail (ASCII or (La)TeX or Word) to the address below by January 15, 2004. Abstracts will be published and distributed at the conference. Each participant may give only one paper as the first author. Include in your abstract the following details: Title of the paper First Author's name, affiliation, mailing address, and e-mail Second and other author's names, affiliation, mailing address, and e-mail Main topics of your paper Abstracts should be sent to: INSNA(a)uni-lj.si A full call for papers and submissions guidelines can be found on the conference website at http://vlado.fmf.uni-lj.si/info/sunbelt24/ Regards, Gregor Petric, member of Organizing Committee #-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-# Gregor Petric Assistant Professor Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana Slovenia e-mail: gregor.petric(a)uni-lj.si

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January on -empyre- : Nova Media Storia: Histories and Characters
by Michael Arnold Mages 02 Jan '04

02 Jan '04

.......................... January on -empyre- : Nova Media Storia: Histories and Characters With Jill Scott, Nick Montfort and Noah Wardrip-Fruin Is new media a field? Does it have a history? What history? And, how does it matter? The new year brings us the pleasure of hosting three lively minds from the interdisciplinary worlds of new media science, art and humanities. Noah Wardrip-Fruin (US) and Nick Montfort (US) will explore the genesis and critical issues that have lead to the publication of The New Media Reader (MIT Press 2003), a compendium of intertextually annotated readings from the last century. To the double helix of art and computation in new media, Nick and Noah hope to interweave empyrean comments in the coming month. With Noah and Nick, we are honored to share time and thoughts with a distinguished new media artist, Jill Scott, whose new book, "Coded Characters" (Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2003), explores the mediation and role of the audience, as well as the mythical representation of the human body on both stage and screen, are constantly questioned. Jill's nomadic hegira, from the Bay Area to Australia and to Europe, bears witness to a consistent development of new media art as a series of cyberphysical metaphors--analog figures, digital beings, and mediated nomads. Please join Jill, Nick and Noah this coming month on -empyre- soft-skinned space. Subscribe at: <http://www.subtle.net/empyre> ......................................... Nick Montfort writes on interactive fiction, the literary uses of artificial intelligence and machine learning, game studies, and analogies between new media, narrative and poetry. At the University of Pennsylvania, where he is a PhD candidate in computer science, Nick researches computational aspects of behavioral game theory. Recent publications include "Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction" (MIT Press, 2003), regarding such "text adventures" as Adventure and Zork from literary and computational perspectives. <http://nickm.com> <http://newmediareader.com> ----------------------------------------------- Jill Scott and her oeuvre have contributed to a new concept of the human body with respect to its functionality as an interface and as a player in the rapidly developing technological spaces and in physical reality. Since 1975, her work has evolved from making surveillance-performance events, to video art, and onto new computer art and interactive cinema. <http://www.jillscott.org> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Noah Wardrip-Fruin is a new media scholar and artist. He has recently edited two books, both from MIT Press - The New Media Reader (with Nick Montfort, 2003) and First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game (with Pat Harrigan, forthcoming). As an artist his work focuses on new media text, including The Impermanence Agent (a storytelling web agent that "customizes" based on reader browsing habits) and Screen (an immersive VR text that interacts with the reader's body). His work has been presented by the Whitney and Guggenheim museums, as well as discussed in reference books such as Information Arts (MIT Press) and Digital Art (Thames and Hudson). <http://hyperfiction.org/>

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online thesis
by Monika Merkes 01 Jan '04

01 Jan '04

A happy new year to all! My PhD thesis on the topic "A longer working life for Australian women of the baby boom generation? - Women's voices and the social policy implications of an ageing female workforce" is now online at http://member.melbpc.org.au/~monika/research.html Summary With an increasing proportion of older people in the Australian population and increasing health and longevity, paid work after the age of 65 years may become an option or a necessity in the future. The focus of this research is on Australian women of the baby boom generation, their working futures, and the work-retirement decision. This is explored both from the viewpoint of women and from a social policy perspective. The research draws on Considine's model of public policy, futures studies, and Beck's concept of risk society. The research comprises three studies. Using focus group research, Study 1 explored the views of Australian women of the baby boom generation on work after the age of 65 years. Study 2 aimed to explore current thinking on the research topic in Australia and overseas. Computer-mediated communication involving an Internet website and four scenarios for the year 2020 were used for this study. Study 3 consists of the analysis of quantitative data from the Healthy Retirement Project, focusing on attitudes towards retirement, retirement plans, and the preferred and expected age of retirement. The importance of choice and a work - life balance emerged throughout the research. Women in high-status occupations were found to be more likely to be open to the option of continuing paid work beyond age 65 than women in low-status jobs. However, the women were equally likely to embrace future volunteering. The research findings suggest that policies for an ageing female workforce should be based on the values of inclusiveness, fairness, self-determination, and social justice, and address issues of workplace flexibility, equality in the workplace, recognition for unpaid community and caring work, opportunities for life-long learning, complexity and inequities of the superannuation system, and planning for retirement. Further, providing a guaranteed minimum income for all Australians should be explored as a viable alternative to the current social security system. Regards Monika Merkes http://member.melbpc.org.au/~monika

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